Blog Assignment 2

Did You Know 3.0

This video was really interesting. It shows how quickly new technology is being developed, and how it has grown over the last few years. My favorite segment in this clip was the one about text messaging. It said that today, less than ten years after the very first text message was sent, there are more texts sent daily than there are people on the planet. It is incredible how fast things can develop into worldwide phenomenon's. The clip also shows some statistics about the huge populations in other counties, specifically China and India. Even our language is still growing and developing. The video showed that there are five times as many words in the English language today as there were during Shakespeare's time. Technology is growing so quickly, and this video proves it, that we can not hope to understand it all. But this video also shows that we have to learn as much as we can, if we don't then how will we cope in 20 years if technology really does keep developing like this video says it will.

Mr. Winkle Wakes
This is such a good example of how schools operate. There really is not much about schools that has changed in the last hundred years. Computers are integrated into some classrooms, but not as much as they could be. The majority of the educating community still teaches with the same techniques teachers used when they were in school. As a college student I get bored when my professor stands up front and reads out of a book, so I know grade school students must get just as restless. By introducing more technology into your classroom, and teaching the students skills instead of random trivia, there is a higher possibility that you will be able to keep their interest. Some teachers are incorporating these kinds of things into their class room, such as the teachers that have their students create blogs. I know in certain subjects, such as history and english, it is probably hard to find a way to use technology with the students. But I want to be the history teacher that researches and finds tools and techniques that will make my class interesting to my students.

The Importance of Creativity
We are educating kids for the future. Sir Ken Robinson makes a really good point when he says this, it is something to think about since we really don't have any clue what will be happening five, ten or fifteen years from now. He focuses on persuading children to be creative,and offering more subjects that use that creativity in schools, rather than just the basics that all children are required to study. We are preparing to be teachers, and if we want our students to be creative then we also have to be creative. To be good teachers we have to know and understand what we are teaching, but to be great teachers we have to take the initiative and research new and creative ways to help our students learn. We have to think like Sir Ken Robinson, education should not be the same old thing set in stone like it has always been. We should focus on each child's creative talents, and use the interests that child has to help them learn.

Cecelia Gault Interviews Sir Ken Robinson
It is such a great opportunity for Cecelia Gault that she was able to interview Robinson. I wish more kids had opportunities like these. Robinson talks about how creativity is not limited to certain people, everyone has the ability to be creative. In my classroom I hope that I will be able to get all of my students to find something that they enjoy doing, and getting them to use those interests to help them learn. Also Robinson says that there is no set definition of intelligence. I think that this is a great concept, all children learn differently. There are some children that just learn things very quickly and there are others who have a hard time understanding certain things. But if you take the child that has a hard time grasping a concept, and introduce a creative and fun way of learning that concept, then there is a possibility that they will pick it up rather quickly if they are having fun doing it. I love history, but many students do not. I want to take the students that really are not interested in history, and show them that it can be very interesting. For example; a jock, he does not like history but loves football. I would try to find football analogies that would grab his attention and apply them to my history lessons. There are also many sites available that utilize games to make studying for history fun. I want to introduce sites like these to my students so that they will not feel that studying for my class is a hassle, I want to make it fun.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
I love that the students at this Georgia school are able to take a class like this. I wish the students in Mobile County were required to take a course like that one. Really not just students in Mobile but students everywhere should be introduced to these technologies. The things that her high school students are learning how to do I am just now learning to do in my junior year of college. Knowing how to use those tools can open up a lot of opportunities for those students. I also really liked that the teacher did not define everything for her students. She made them take the initiative to search for answers. But she gave them all the tools that they needed, they just have to know how to use them. I hope that more schools begin to offer classes like these. They are such great tools to introduce students to what is going on with other kids their age around the world.